August 16th, 2010

The Week That Was 8.15.10

Monday is here and once again she’s much too early. The weekend flew by with little regard for rest and relaxation leaving the unsuspecting in the throes of their nine-to-five once again. Where does that leave us? Well, I guess I’ll try to relive last week in 900 words or less for a start. Maybe you’ll read it. Maybe it will slip between the cracks of the internet and be crushed in the deep.

This is my weekly therapy session. I look back on seven days of events and non-events and wonder “was it worth it? Is this the reason you’re tired? Would you do it all over again?” At least I know the answer to the last question: It’s “yes.” I’m pretty sure the answer to question #1 is the same, but the second question’s answer is escaping me.

Getting “Run Ruled” Doesn’t Feel Great
If you didn’t know, the maximum number of runs allowed in a half-inning of kickball is six. I know this fact intimately since in our first inning on Thursday at Levy Park for Sports Monkey’s opening game of the new season. On the mound, I served up hit after hit as amateur kickballer after kickballer crossed home plate. Let’s just say our team was woefully unprepared to face people that could actually connect with the ball at the plate and catch our looping flies to the shallow outfield. Who would have thought that people playing in these leagues actually knew what they were doing? We ended the evening twelve runs behind which I consider a mild success since we got “run ruled” twice in the first two innings. Yes, my era for the season is a whopping 54.0. Luckily, I moved to shortstop in the final three innings… wait, that isn’t lucky at all? I literally have the highest ERA possible without a chance for redemption.

Mucky Duck for Sucky Luck
Thankfully, five blocks away from the killing fields of kickball, McGonigel’s Mucky Duck offered our team some respite. Sweaty, dirt-clogged and heads hung low we were allowed only to sit on the back porch of the bar for a chance to order beer and food. Apparently they don’t let losers sit indoors. Of course, I’m kidding. As we were unwilling to buy tickets for the show inside, we were left little other choice than continuing our hours in the stifling heat and humidity of an August evening. Our team, fielded a hodge-podge of “who do you knows” and “what do you dos” as we all got to know each other a little better. We have to build that chemistry between each other for which championship teams are lauded. You can’t take the rankings by storm until you take in three or four Fat Tires together.

For the Burgers or the Beer?
The above question will be something you may be asking yourself in the near future. With the marriage of Hubcap Grill’s new food truck and Liberty Station’s patchwork parking lot, you’re going to have a lot of reasons to head down to Washington Ave. On Friday night, talking about what makes relationships flourish, stagnate or die off, we found our party at Liberty Station and wishing we hadn’t just eaten dinner. After Stephan’s article on the burger joint, you would have thought we had planned on doing a follow-up with the food truck by how quickly we raced to its new location. No, it was both poor planning and good timing. The good timing part of it was due to the fact that I got to meet Ricky Craig who, I must say, is one of the top 20 nicest people I’ve met in the last year of writing for The Loop Scoop. Our conversation didn’t last too long since he eventually had to go shut down the truck to drive it into the night, but I had business of my own to attend to: trying Real Ale’s new pilsner called Hans’ Pils. After my first taste it was “all Hans’ on deck,” if you know what I mean. Actually, I don’t even know what I mean and horrible puns are a specialty of mine.

Ego Boosts of a Placard Variety
We’ve gotten a couple compliments here and there about the work that we’ve done for this little site so far. One of the best so far was hearing that our experience at Zelko Bistro had been printed out by the management and mounted on the wall. Each of us over time have gone by to check out our laminated accomplishment hanging on the wall. I take that back. We go back because it’s one of our favorite restaurants in Houston at the moment. Seeing The Loop Scoop in print is just an added bonus to the Saint Arnold Root Beer Braised Short Ribs – my meal early dinner on Saturday. I paired it with a Breckenridge Vanilla Porter which complimented the dish nicely, but nearly put me into a food coma after I had polished off plate and bottle. Luckily the adrenaline from seeing our name on the wall near the restroom was enough to keep me going for the rest of the night.

Gonzo: The Artist (not the documentary or the journalistic style)
My crush on Houston street art is no secret at this point. After the first tour/hunt that I went on a few weeks ago, there hasn’t been a day I’ve slouched in my quest of documenting Houston’s artists of the street (just click that link below that says “Houston Street Art“). Saturday night would have led to driving around in search of more if it hadn’t come to me instead. Gonzo247 of Aerosol Warfare had an opening at Design Within Reach showcasing eight different chairs he had refinished and painted in his style. Talking to him briefly and asking about the project he said postured, “you know when two really ugly people have a beautiful child? That’s what I wanted to do with these chairs.” Well, I would consider that a success as by the end of the night I was fighting over the pictured chair with a friend. We finally decided that buying it together and exchanging it every month was probably the best way to do it. Little does she know my plan of “misplacing” it after the third rotation.